Set Up a Housing Disrepair Department

Confirm your regulatory route, write tight case criteria, secure surveyor and expert capacity, set up case management and funding, build a mobile-first service page, and launch a compliant tenant acquisition programme.

The legal work must be delivered by a regulated firm. A CMC with the right FCA permission can generate and qualify claims and refer them to a panel firm.

Damp and mould, water ingress and leaks, heating and hot water failures, structural defects, pest infestation and disrepair-related health impacts.

Evidence the landlord was notified and given a reasonable opportunity to repair, photographs, correspondence, repair logs, medical evidence where health is affected, and an independent expert report.

Commonly several months, and longer where proceedings are issued. Expert availability and landlord responsiveness are the main variables.

Usually conditional fee arrangements with disbursement funding and, where appropriate, insurance products. Working capital is essential because costs are incurred long before recovery.

Enforce written criteria at intake, reject cases that fail evidence tests early, and audit a sample of files monthly. Weak intake is the main cause of losses.

Not necessarily on retainer, but you need reliable, contracted capacity with agreed turnaround times and fees.

Both are common. They differ in landlord process, response times and typical defect types, so intake and expectations should reflect the tenure.

No unsolicited calls or texts without valid consent, no guarantees of compensation, no misleading claims about timescales or amounts, and clear identification of who you are.

It varies widely by channel and by how strictly you qualify. Organic search typically produces the lowest long-term cost per viable case, paid channels the fastest volume.

Case management with milestone tracking, tenant evidence upload, secure document exchange, e-signature and reporting by source and stage.

Yes, but it should have its own dedicated service page with distinct content rather than being buried in a general litigation page, or it will not rank or convert.

Most firms formalise a department once monthly case volume consistently occupies more than one full-time handler; before that a shared resource is usually more efficient.

Expert inspection capacity, followed by tenant responsiveness. Both should be managed with proactive scheduling and reminders.

We map out the build and connect you with surveying, expert, panel law firm, compliance, technology and marketing partners. We do not conduct litigation or provide legal advice.

A department inside an existing regulated firm can be operational in four to twelve weeks; a new CMC route depends on FCA authorisation and takes considerably longer. The variables that move the timeline most are how quickly your website and tracking are built, and how long it takes to agree terms with suppliers or partners.

Typically low-to-mid five figures to stand up the department, covering technology, expert arrangements, the website and initial acquisition, plus working capital for case disbursements. Costs depend on whether you build in-house or use external providers, how much you spend on customer acquisition in the first quarter, and the level of technology you need on day one.

Yes. A housing disrepair department needs a credible, fast website with clear service pages, proof of legitimacy, tracked enquiry forms and analytics. Without one you cannot run search, paid or referral acquisition properly, and buyers will struggle to verify you.

Often, yes. Existing businesses frequently add a housing disrepair department as a new department because they already have data, staff, customers or distribution. The usual work is a separate brand or landing page, separate tracking, defined processes and any approvals the new activity requires.

SET UP A is a business launch and growth platform. We help you understand what is involved, and we introduce you to the partners who deliver what you need — company formation, banking, accounting, insurance, compliance and legal, technology, industry specialists, and website and marketing support. We do not deliver those services ourselves, and we are not your regulator, lawyer or accountant.

Yes, through partners. We can introduce you to website development partners who handle conversion-focused page structure, enquiry forms, tracking and analytics. SET UP A does not build the site itself.

Yes, through partners. SEO specialists in our partner network cover technical foundations, page architecture, commercial page content and internal linking so the business can be found in Google, Bing and AI search results.

Yes. We can introduce lead generation and performance marketing specialists relevant to your model. Where an introduction generates a referral fee for SET UP A, that is disclosed.

You are not charged for being introduced to a partner. Some partner introductions may generate a commercial referral fee for SET UP A, paid by the partner. This is set out on our partner disclosure page.

Customer acquisition. Most launches over-invest in brand and under-invest in a repeatable way to generate enquiries, and they launch without tracking, so they cannot tell which channel produced revenue.

Yes. SET UP A is built for the UK market, so the guidance, terminology and partner categories reflect UK business practice.

Tell us what you want to set up, whether you already operate a business and when you want to launch. We will come back with the services, resources and partners relevant to launching a housing disrepair department.